This is continuation of our interview with Universal Robina Corporation’s Vice President-Marketing Edwin Totanes on Launching and Defending New Products. In this second part, Mr. Totanes generously shares about lessons he learned from failures. For Part 1 of his interview, click here Q7: One of your early marketing assignments was as brand manager of Procter and Gamble for Crest. While […]
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“Research results should be “used directionally” and not necessarily to be “followed directly” Edwin Totanes Q1: Congratulations on your winning the prestigious Agora Awards for marketing management from the Philippine Marketing Association last 2013. What do you consider are your biggest marketing achievements so far and why? I have selected 3 examples from my previous employment at a) Kraft Foods, Inc.; […]
Q1: What were the more successful tools or techniques you employed that drove customers to Marie France? Advertising is our mainstay and is a major driver for new trials. We closely monitor the statistics of responses versus the type of ads, here and internationally, and adjust to local trends, and often try to develop a trend. A successful ad slogan […]
Q1: Fast food companies are already selling French fries bundled with their value meals. What made you decide that there is an opportunity to sell fries separately in kiosks? I think the idea or opportunity we saw was that there was a business selling snacks to people who are mobile and who need a companion food. That is why we, […]
Q1: Bizu is a premium brand of cakes and restaurants. How did you decide that this is the way to go? The first thing that I did when I set out to create Bizu was to search my soul. I have always dreamt of running a patisserie similar to the ones found in France and wondered why we didn’t have […]
Record-breaking, bestselling author Josiah Go is the Chairman of Mansmith and Fielders, Inc. (the leading marketing and sales training company in the Philippines), and Chairman of Waters Philippines (the market leader in the direct selling of premium home water purifiers in the Philippines). He is Chairman / Vice Chairman / Director of over a dozen companies. Business Background Chairman of […]
A few years ago, a new tech company entered the market with full confidence. The plan looked perfect on paper, but failed within months. Why? An IT programmer had spotted a critical flaw in the program but was told to just fix it and stay silent, afraid to contradict leadership who committed a date to launch publicly. Too many companies […]
In the business world, where brands constantly seek relevance and differentiation, talent remains the true edge. Yet the corporate hiring lens, understandably, tends to gravitate toward efficiency, often favoring graduates from the country’s top three schools. It’s a pragmatic filter: limited time, limited resources, and a need to minimize risk. But this efficiency bias comes at a cost, it often […]
In business and in life, we often tolerate things that no longer make sense. We experience routines, processes, and small inefficiencies that persist simply because no one has questioned them. These everyday irritations are so familiar, they go unnoticed. They become default thinking. But to customers, they are felt, and remembered. This is what I call common nonsense: things that […]
Imagine your leadership team sailing smoothly through calm waters, until an unexpected iceberg strikes. The forecasts were solid. The numbers were sound. Yet beneath the surface, something far more insidious was at play: distorted risk perception. That iceberg? Cognitive bias: sharp, hidden, and often unseen until it’s too late. Organizations rarely fail because of risks they saw coming. More often, […]